Conflict of Interest

All Needham employees, Board, Commission, and Committee members, volunteers, and consultant are required to receive training in the Conflict of Interest laws. The Conflict of Interest laws training must be completed online through the State Ethics Commission training portal. There are 2 parts to the training. Once a year, a summary training must be completed, which takes approximately 10 minutes. Every 2 years, a full training must be completed, which takes approximately 1 hour. These requirements can be completed on any computer or mobile device. Completion of the mandatory education requirements will be automatically recorded and provided to the Town Clerk.

Conflict of Interest Law for Municipal Employees, Officials, Volunteers and Consultants

The Conflict of Interest Law seeks to prevent conflicts between private interest and public duties, foster integrity in public service, and promote the public's trust and confidence in that service by placing restrictions on what municipal employees may do on the job, after hours, and after leaving public service.

The State Ethics Commission is an independent state agency that administers and enforces the provisions of the conflict of interest law and financial disclosure law. When the commission determines that the conflict of interest law has been violated, it can impose a civil penalty of up to $10,000 ($25,000 for bribery cases) for each violation. In addition, the commission can order the violator to repay any economic advantage he gained by the violation, and to make restitution to injured third parties. Violations of the conflict of interest law can also be prosecuted criminally.

Mandatory Conflict of Interest Law education and training requirements

Every Year

Every year, all state, county, and municipal employees must be provided with the summary of the conflict of interest law. All public employees are required to provide acknowledgment that they have been provided with the summary. Newly elected or appointed public employees should be provided with the summary within 30 days of election or appointment, and on an annual basis thereafter.

Every 2 Years

Every 2 years, all state, county, and municipal employees must complete a conflict of interest law online training program. Newly elected or appointed public employees must complete this training within 30 days of beginning public service, and every 2 years thereafter.

Municipal Employees: Paid Employees, Elected and Appointed Committee and Board Members, and Consultants

Under the State conflict of interest law the term "employee" includes full and part-time municipal employees as well as elected officials, committee and board appointees, volunteers and individuals under a contract or on a consultant basis. This does not include charter commission members or Town Meeting Members.

Completing the Conflict of Interest Law Training Requirements

To fulfill the Conflict of Interest laws education and training requirements, you will need to complete the State Ethics Commission on-line training. To access the training, please click on the following link:

https://massethicstraining.skillburst.com/User/index.php

If you do not already have an account, proceed to creating a new account. You may use your Needham work email or a personal email address. When prompted, please select Needham as your community and indicate with which Department you are employed. For Board and Committee members, please use the Board or Committee name as your Department.

If you already have an account log in. When you log in, you will be able to access whichever training is currently due for you.

Once you complete the training requirement, a certificate will be issued to you. You may print the certificate for your records. You do not need to forward the certificate to the Town Clerk's attention. The Town Clerk administers conflict of interest and can access all information in the State database for Needham.

You will receive reminders when you need to complete the annual or biennial trainings. At that time, you will simply need to log back in and complete the training.

If you are having any difficulty with the State training system, please contact Louise Miller, Town Clerk, who is the administrator of the system.

Summary of the Conflict of Interest Laws for Municipal Employees

A summary of the Conflict of Interest laws is available online on the State Ethics Commission's website at: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/summary-of-the-conflict-of-interest-law-for-municipal-employees.